While Le Boudoir Numérique is already betting on the Icelandic group Daði & Gagnamagnið as the winner of Eurovision 2021 on May 22, let’s have a look back at the performances of the famous European song contest the most influenced by tech.

By Ludmilla Intravaia

* Eurovision Song Contest 2010

- Safura (Azerbaijan)

On May 29, 2010, the singer Safura Alizadeh represented Azerbaijan at Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo, Norway, with the title Drip Drop. During her stage performance, the Azeri artist performed the song, in a luminous dress, specially designed for the occasion by the company CuteCircuit. Safura's hand-pleated silk chiffon dress conceals thousands of light-emitting diodes that make it shine brightly in blue and turquoise colors. The LEDs were activated remotely from the VJ's computer, depending on the emotional nuances of the song.

CuteCircuit is a wearable-technology fashion brand, co-founded in 2004 in the United States by Francesca Rosella and Ryan Genz and based in London, which creates light-up and interactive clothing and wearables. CuteCircuit has also designed luminous dresses and stage costumes for the singers Katy Perry, Laura Pausini and Nicole Scherzinger (more info in this Boudoir Numérique article). Check out Safura’s dress in the video below.

* Eurovision Song Contest 2019

- Bilal Hassani (France)

On May 18, 2019, the singer Bilal Hassani represented France with his title Roi, in Tel Aviv, Israel. For the intro to his stage performance the french artist used a multimedia technology called projection mapping, which consists in projecting light or videos onto volumes. In his case, colorful make-up images were projected on Bilal Hassani's face, superimposing on his features, while he sang.

The French engineer Paul Lacroix, interviewed by Le Boudoir Numérique in 2015 on the occasion of the Omote project (read here), was in charge of the face projection mapping, as technical director, within the French delegation, as he explains on his official website: “ The system had to be installed on stage in only 40 seconds, so all calibrations and tests had to be completed before. I customized and optimized the system in order to increase its robustness for such a live event. The video is a little bit dark as the lighting technician forgot to switch on the backlights during the face projection, but the face tracking and projection mapping itself went well." Watch the result of the face projection mapping on Bilal Hassani's face, in the video below.

- Chingiz (Azerbaijan)

No doubt about it : Azerbaijan is fond of fashion tech. In the wake of his compatriot Safura ten years earlier, the singer Çingiz Mustafayev, Chingiz for the close friends, chose to offer himself the luminous services of two robotic arms for the scenography of his title Truth, on May 18, 2019, in Tel Aviv.

For instance, a heart-shaped laser was projected on the Azeri artist's chest. Check out the robotic arms and the set design of the show signed by entertainment companies Front Pictures and Red Rabbit Entertainment, in the video below.

* Eurovision Song Contest Junior 2020

- Karakat Bashanova (Kazakhstan)

On November 29, 2020, the Kazakhstani contestant Karakat Bashanova performed her song Forever in Warsaw, Poland, in a white dress adorned with splashes of colored lights projected by video mapping (more info in this Boudoir Numérique article).

Finally, regarding the 2021 edition of the European competition, Le Boudoir Numérique already has its little darling : the Icelandic group Daði & Gagnamagnið.

Discover its sweet moves, its pixel art print costumes, its funny gadgets including a dancing robot, in the music video of its song for Eurovision 2021, 10 Years, below.

* The semifinals of the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 will take place on May 18 and 20, 2021. The final will take place in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, on May 22, 2021. In addition to the television channels of each country, Eurovision will be broadcast live on the dedicated YouTube channel here.

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* Continue reading with these Boudoir Numérique articles:

- Junior Eurovision 2020 : The luminous dress with mechanical wings of Karakat Bashanova

- Fashion tech Christmas

- “Du maquillage virtuel est envisageable dans le futur”